Negombo Bird watching taking place in Negombo Lagoon by boat and Muthurajawela Birds Sanctuary located 12 Km away from Negombo city, closer to the Airport. Once known to produce rice as beautiful as pearls for the King of Kotte, the Muthurajawela Paddy fields were made uncultivable allegedly by the seepage of sea water through Dutch made Canals and were left to death and decay.Spread over 6230 hectares The Muthurajawela wetland runs parallel to the western coastline of the country and together with the contiguous Negombo lagoon forms an integrated coastal wetland system of high biodiversity and ecological significance.Nearly 200 species of flora belonging to seven major types, namely marsh, lactic flora, shrub land, reed, swamps, grasslands, stream banks and mangrove forest is found in Muthurajawela Wetland zone including one endemic species, Arecacea or Phoenix zelanica.The vertebrate fauna at Muthurajawela includes 40 species of fish, 14 species of reptiles, 102 species of birds and 22 species of mammals. Among the total number of vertebrate species documented 17 are endemic while 26 are nationally endangered. Among the invertebrates documented 48 species are butterflies and 22 species are dragonflies.
